Students from WEIU-TV and HitMix 88.9 WEIU brought home seven first place awards, two second place awards and three third place awards from this year’s Illinois Broadcasters Association Student Silver Dome Awards ceremony.

“We have some talented students that work hard and take it seriously. I think EIU does a wonderful job preparing students from the classes they take and also the work they do at WEIU. Students get an opportunity to be involved in hands-on experiences early in their college career,” said Mike Bradd, IBA board member and communication studies associate chair and professor.

WEIU-TV News Watch received first place for Best Newscast, WEIU-TV Sports Watch End Zone received first place for Best TV Longform Program, Zach Nugent received first place for TV Sports Pack and Kevin Jeanes received first place for Best TV Weathercast.

Among several other Eastern winners is John Twork, a 2010 broadcast journalism graduate and now a graduate assistant at Illinois State University. Twork placed in four different categories including first place awards for Best Radio Commercial with co-worker Orion Buckingham and Best Radio PSA.

In his four years at Eastern, Twork served as a sports broadcaster for HitMix where he was the play-by-play voice for the women’s basketball and baseball teams.

Twork also received a second place award for Best Radio Sports Story and a third place award for Best Radio Sports Play-By-Play during the Oct. 8 annual IBA-University Student Broadcasters Conference at Illinois State University.

“Winning or placing in these events is a really great bullet point and resume builder for the students here. It builds team camaraderie and good station morale too,” said Jeff Owens, WEIU-FM director.

The contest honored an elite handful of student broadcasters from across the state for their hard work and professional integrity in broadcasting at the collegiate level.

Phil Norton and Kate Kelley were awarded first place for Best Radio Station Promotion. “The station is really like my second family, no matter what, when I graduate I can always come back here to EIU and call it home. I know I’ll have wonderful opportunities once I graduate thanks to HitMix,” said Kelley, a senior broadcasting major.

Emily Mieure and Avery Drake took third place for Best TV Photo Journalism; Tom Bickham took second place for Best Radio Aircheck while Nathan Schwalm and Ethan Kruger tied for third place.

It was a fun experience that Schwalm, a senior broadcast major, would recommend to students when they because it is not only great for a resume but it is great to meet up with professionals at the job fair after the awards and hang out with people from the industry.

James Tidwell, a professor and chair of the journalism department, agreed with Schwalm.

“The experiences that students can get here in broadcasting are unique compared to any other university because doing a five day a week live broadcast is as real as it gets. Most universities do once a week broadcasts that are taped,” Tidwell said.

WEIU-TV and HitMix are up for three more prestigious accolades at the Collegiate Broadcasters Awards held in Louisville, Ky.

Scott Tracey can be reached at 581-7942 or dennewsdesk@gmail.com.